Secretary of State Antony Blinken says insurrection attempt hurt US position

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says insurrection attempt hurt US position

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“There is no doubt that our ability to speak to this, with that strong voice for democracy and human rights, was affected by what happened on January 6,” said Blinken in “The Situation Room”. “But I have to tell you, I really do see the glass as half full because we had a peaceful transition of power according to our Constitution.”

Blinken spoke to CNN the day before the Senate convened for Trump’s impeachment trial. The Chamber voted to impeach the former president on January 13 on charges of inciting an insurrection. The historic vote came a week before Trump stepped down, making him the only president in U.S. history to be impeached twice.

As Trump leaves office, the impact on the U.S. position in the world continues to reverberate. Russia and China made fun of the US for the January 6 events, which shocked the allies. Blinken said the US response is one of the things that makes it unique.

“We had incredibly challenging times and sometimes took our own steps backwards. But what made us different is our willingness and ability to face these challenges with complete transparency in front of the world,” said the top US diplomat.

“Sometimes it’s incredibly difficult, sometimes it’s ugly, but I think we have a very strong story to tell about the resilience of democracy, the resilience of our institutions and the determination of this country to always try to form a more perfect union,” he added .

Blinken reiterated President Joe Biden’s commitment to alliances and reaffirming US leadership after President Donald Trump’s “America first” policy often left the United States isolated and in conflict with allies.

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“The first part is to show up, re-engage,” said Blinken. “None of the big problems we face … none can be addressed by a single country acting alone,” said Blinken, pointing to climate change, weapons of mass destruction. This means “an award for diplomacy”.

Russia and Iran

Blinken said the United States is counting on its alliances to determine how to approach Russia as well, and hinted that the government will work with Congress to take action on Alexey Navalny’s poisoning. The opposition leader returned to Russia after recovering in Germany, five months after he almost died. Navalny’s arrest shortly after his return and his subsequent arrest sparked widespread protests across Russia.

“It seems evident that a chemical weapon was used to try to kill Mr. Navalny,” said Blinken. “This violates the Chemical Weapons Convention and other Russian obligations.”

Such a move would also violate US sanctions that Congress has imposed on Russia, “he added.” We are reviewing this, we are looking very carefully and, when we have the results, we will take action “.

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Blinken also repeated the government’s determination that Iran should take the first step in negotiations on the US’s return to the international nuclear deal. “If Iran goes back to compliance … we would do the same thing,” said Blinken, and we would use the pact as a starting point to form a “longer and stronger agreement” that includes other issues, including the Iranian missile program.

Blinken said that Trump had the right idea to take a “tougher approach to China”, but then added, “the way he acted was totally wrong.” Blinken said the United States needs to approach China with a strong position. “It means having strong alliances … not denigrating our alliances,” he said.

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